Shades of Grey
by 2d66
Summary: After four years, Kim has graduated from the more militarized GJ Academy. However, she soon finds herself in the middle of a very different world. What will happen when events cause Kim to change the way she views the world? And herself? Kigo eventually. M for war scenes and some language.
1. Chapter 1 The Job

I do not own Kim Possible, although I wish I did. So please do not sue me. You would not get much if you did.

**Shades of Grey**, Chapter 1: The Job

"_The package has an ETA of approximately five minutes, move to secure the area!_" a voice echoed into his earpiece. The command was answered only as he slowly strode off into the mass of people beginning to form.

He was tall and well built, with short dirty blonde hair. His build and posture making it obvious he was a professional in whatever he did for a living, his stride hinting at an overwhelming self-confidence and pride.

He made his way over to the corner of a recently vacant apartment complex, trying his best to blend in with the crowd. He found this harder than usual seeing as he was wearing a suit and stood inches above everyone else; however, it greatly helped that it was night and the only light was coming from nearby street lamps.

He patiently waited for one of his comrades, his face showing no emotion or anxiety thanks to years of hard training and experience. After scanning the large and bustling crowd for what was about five minutes he spotted his associate and slowly made his way over.

This other man was just slightly shorter than the first, but was just as in shape if not more so. He also wore a suit along with a pair of very dark sunglasses which hid his eyes perfectly. Together they made their way through the abnormal amount of people filling the streets of the small rural town. In reality it could be considered more of a village stuck in the past than a town if it was not for the one mark of industrialization within a hundred miles: the oil wells.

The town had grown in significance, but not in numbers, due to the international chaos over the dwindling oil reserves. A major oil discovery recently made near the town, caused it to gain a sudden popularity almost overnight and led the visit of a very prominent figure to the area. Of course the whole population turned out for this, as they had never seen anything like it before. They had grown happy with the slow modernization of their little community, which was clearly shown by the somewhat modern buildings and older style rural housing sitting side by side all throughout the small town.

The mass of people was quickly becoming frustrating for the two men in suits who had to push their way through the dirty and excited watchers. It soon became obvious the short parade like entrance would be taking place soon and they were not in the position they needed to be in. Giving up any attempt at subterfuge, the two took off at a hard jog through the assembled people.

Unbeknownst to them, a set of dark eyes followed their every move.

The two men finally made it to the back of the medium sized local office of the oil wells, sure their target would come out through the back if there was trouble. They knew if there was in fact trouble they had to be ready because if not, their employers would not be very lenient, at all.

"_The package has arrived, stay alert!_" came the ominous voice. At this command both pushed the side of their jackets away to reveal two Sigs P229s *. Seconds later their 'getaway car' pulled up, although it was more of a limo with pitch black windows and with what could be assumed as armored plating. Four more associates rush out of the limo, three armed with MP5s and one a Remington 870, to help secure the area and to make sure nothing could go wrong.

The original two suited figures looked at each other knowing there was trouble. They knew from recent events and the talks of needed upgraded security for their target that their mission was not going to be simple.

"_Package has entered the office, be ready for anything!_" the familiar voiced echoed into their ears. The six then formed a defensive perimeter, with the original two watching the door, two guarding the limo, and the two watching the small side street which happened to be the only way in or out. The initial two shared one last look before it happened…and all hell broke loose.

Three shots were fired in rapid succession causing pandemonium to quickly follow. "_Package is intact! Say again, intact!_" yelled the voice in their ears before it was silenced by more shots.

They readied themselves for anything, or so they thought. The door suddenly flew open brutally as two more men similarly dressed, also armed with Sigs, ran out covering a third bent low between them. As quickly as possible he was rushed to the waiting vehicle, and shoved in. One of the original two climbed in. As the door was shut he asked forcefully in a deep voice while patting at the man's body, "Don't worry, Sir. We have the limo's exit strategy covered. Are you okay? Have you been hit?"

The other looked up, his face serious and marked by several worry lines, "No, I don't believe so. We should get out of this place before anymore useless violence takes place."

The Secret Service agent quickly agreed, signaling the driver to proceed as the others remained to safeguard the withdrawal of the President of the United States.

Any observing would have been horrified, here was one of the most beloved presidents in history covered in the blood of his faithful bodyguards. He definitely inspired sacrifice in these men more so than most prior leaders, whether it be his calming, assuring voice or the radiance of wisdom given off by him, partially from white hair which he had gained only a year prior.

All thoughts, however, were pushed away by the Secret Service agents as they formed a broad defensive perimeter around the limo. The agent inside the limo yelled to the driver, "Get us out of here now!"

After several silent moments the agent pushed the driver to get his attention, but was horrified when he fell to the side lifeless. The agent immediately jumped out of the limo to evaluate the current situation only to find the seven other agents laying on the ground in pools of blood.

"Shit! Stay inside the limo!" the blonde haired agent ordered as he pulled the drivers body out and shut the doors.

"Package compromised, need back up!" he yelled into his microphone as he secured the outer perimeter.

"Nuh uhh uhh, I wouldn't really appreciate that you know," came a soft, teasing voice that made his hair stand up. The agent looked everywhere but all he could see was an abandoned alley with only shadows scattered throughout.

"Just be smart and give up. These other men had to find out the hard way that you can't defeat me," called the voice from what seemed like a completely different direction.

The agent scanned the alley for the hostile, "You cant get away with this. The Package is secure."

There is a short eerie silence followed by the soft voice replying, "Phh! You think he is safe? Nothing is safe from me."

Before the agent could react a dark, cloaked figure dropped behind him as silent as a feather would hit the ground, and pushed two unbelievably sharp blades through his chest. The gasps of pain were short lived as he stumbled onto the cold, hard ground lifeless. The figure quickly fell back into the shadows barely allowing even a glimpse of their form.

Inside the limo the there was complete silence until the radio suddenly crackled to life, "Sir, reinforcements have secured the area. Open the doors so we can extract you to a secondary location."

"Agent, what is your verification?" the president asked in order to confirm the voice was truly an ally.

"Whiskey Hotel Sierra Sierra. A Pathfinder in the city is as good as a fish on land.*"

"Very well," the president said as he steps out of the limo, only to be greeted by shadows. As he stares into the darkness he could feel an overwhelming sense of dread hanging in the heavy, damp air. In order to regain some semblance of control he stood to his full height and yelled at his invisible enemy, "Do you even know whats going to happen to you? I am the President of the United States! You surely know you will pay for this?!"

After several seconds, a figure steps out wearing a black cloak with a hood covering its face. Any sign of facial features is erased by the blackness of the shadow given off by the hood. The thing that caught his eye more than anything was the dark green like stripes running over the cloak. It was somewhat large and flowing, enough so to conceal small movements by the figure and to help it blend into the shadows. It is only after inspecting this does he just catch the glimpse of a much lighter green fabric underneath it. It appears to be rather tight fitting like a jumpsuit, giving him the idea he should know who this was. He is, however, brought out of his thoughts by the mysterious figure's voice.

"I know who you are, and I will be paid quite a fortune for this. And as to any consequences, all that will be left here is several bloody bodies. I will be long gone and everyone will think it was the Iranians and the Russians! But you know it is such a shame, you were actually a decent president. Oh well, a job is a job after all. You do yours and I do mine."

The last thing the cherished President of the United States saw before he was stabbed through the heart was a pair of piercing emerald eyes penetrating the shadow of the hood before total darkness consumed him.

*-Sig Sauer P229- a German made handgun, officially used by the US Secret Service

*-This phrase doesn't really hold any significance, just a verification phrase I made up. Pathfinder is the made up Secret Service title for this president.

AN: So this story is going to be a much more militarized take on Kim Possible. The first several chapters will be pretty combat heavy until the plot develops and then it will die down. I also intend this to be Kigo, however, the story will not completely revolve around it since the main plot is fairly independent. This is my first attempt at any multi-chapter fiction so input of nearly any kind is welcome.

Thank you to Love Robin who did beta work on this for me. I started this awhile ago so there are mistakes since I was just starting to write fiction, but hopefully there are not too many.


	2. Chapter 2 Beginnings

*A/N- this is the edit of the original chapter. My beta and I have gone over this, and I am now satisfied. Just some small changes here and there, with a flashback added in to start to bring the back story in of how the heck we got here. Hope you enjoy and please review. I don't bite. Often...

I do not own Kim Possible, Disney does.

**Shades of Grey**, Chapter 2: Beginnings

It turned out to be one of those unforgettable days that everyone would forever ask what were you doing when "it" happened.

Nearly all television channels preempted regular programming with continuous news repeating the same limited initial reports. This left nearly every man, woman, and child looking at the faces of many different anchormen and women including the newly added anchorman for GNN, Global News Network, who was obviously overwhelmed with stress and nervousness. His name was Sean Herring, a fairly attractive twenty six year old who had always dreamed of being in front of a news camera.

He had wanted something big to happen in order to further his career, but this was nothing like he could have ever imagined. Sean stared into the camera not believing the story he was about to give could even be true. The poor man even missed his first cue, causing quite a commotion in the studio, before he started with his important story.

"We interrupt your regular programming with important breaking news. A terrible event has taken place in the last two hours that every American needs to know about. The president has been assassinated by unidentified terrorists while visiting a rural town in Georgia."

Sean paused as it seemed as if he could feel the shock and disbelief that so many millions had to be facing right now. The very thought of this made him shift slightly in his seat and allowed a lone bead of sweat to inch its way down his clammy forehead. He quickly wiped it off before continuing with his story.

"As of right now most early reports are unconfirmed, but the president has been confirmed to be deceased. We do know that several Secret Service members and possibly even the president's personal driver have been killed also. Three other Secret Service agents are in the hospital but should make a full recovery. We will try to keep you updated while we are waiting for word from…," Sean stopped his last sentence as he intently listened to a voice echoing in his ear.

After listening for several moments, he sat back up straight before continuing, "It seems as if a press conference is taking place as we speak, so we will take you to that right now"

The image on the TV screen switched to a conference room full of reporters and an empty podium. Several seconds later the Secretary of Defense strode up to the podium and began talking.

"The President of the United States has been assassinated by an undetermined numbers of terrorists. Four terrorists that we have linked to a group originating from a Middle-Eastern nation took part in what appears to have been merely a distraction. All four terrorists were in fact killed, but two Secret Service agents died and three more were wounded in the process. President Nicolai escaped through the back of the office building that he was visiting with two Secret Service bodyguards. It is unclear as to what exactly took place behind the office but the end result is horrifying. Eight Secret Service agents, the president himself, and his personal driver were all murdered by what can only be assumed as a blade of some kind. No other bodies were found at the site of this massacre, or any traces of foreign blood or DNA. At this time it seems as though the main assassin or assassins are at large. I will now take a few questions in order to help inform the public."

The very moment he finished every reporter in the room raised their hand to be allowed to speak. The general pointed to a random journalist, which was immediately followed by her question.

"Is it confirmed which country or terrorist group was behind this assassination?"

"All agencies are currently attempting to identify the specific group or nation responsible for this, but at this time it is unknown." The general answered the journalist in his regular matter of fact voice that he always used with journalists; he did not like having to answer to them. He did, however, have a job to do so he pointed to the next journalist in order to continue the press conference.

"Do you have any information on the suspected assassin?"

"As of right now we do not know anything about the assassin or assassins." He quickly pointed to another journalist in order to make sure the previous one would not continue that specific line of questioning.

"If it is proven that it was a nation behind this, what actions will be taken against them?"

"I cannot give you much information about that but I can assure you military action is not off the table. We already have one super Aircraft carrier in the region with two more on the way, but that is far from a declaration of war."

"Is there any word from the Vice President?" asked the next lucky journalist.

"He is currently at an undisclosed location. Now I am afraid that will be all the questions for now. I can assure you though that more information will be released later."

With that he walked off the podium with his signature stride leaving millions of people staring blankly at their TV screens.

One of these people was Sean Herring who was currently being yelled at because he was about to be on air again within seconds. Sean quickly regained his composure just in time as he went live again. He spoke with a gentle voice that had a hint of the sadness and bewilderment that all other Americans now have in their hearts.

"We will continue to keep you updated as soon as more information is available. For now we will send you to Sarah who is near the scene of the assassination."

Sean turns toward another TV screen showing a female reporter before giving up the story to her. "So Sarah what can you tell us?"

**KP**

One of the hundreds of millions of people who were glued to the TV screen was a twenty four year old redhead who was shocked beyond description. The redhead looked younger than she actually was especially with her rather tight attire. She wore a tight outfit that was obviously made more for its mobility and flexibility than for looks.

The woman had medium length hair which complimented her shapely form, and the softness of her skin and personality perfectly. Athleticism and strength radiated from her as if she herself was an extremely deadly weapon; however, at the same time she gave off a comforting feeling that seemed to disarm those around her.

The stunned and eerie silence that penetrated the room her and a group of people occupied was interrupted only by the introduction of a new person. The man who entered the room was dressed in an official grey colored Global Justice uniform. He came up behind the redhead to whisper into her ear.

"Agent Possible, the Commander has requested your presence in the main briefing room in twenty minutes."

Kim acknowledged and quickly ran to the shower in order to get rid of the odor one always gets from a good workout at the gym. Once done, she changed into her GJ uniform before running to the briefing room.

When she arrived she noticed the large wooden table in the middle of the room that was currently unoccupied. She stood a few feet from the table in order to wait for them to arrive. Kim did not have to wait long.

Betty Director walked into the room with many other high ranking men and women. They all took a seat, except Betty, who motioned for Kim to take the only available seat left. After Kim sat down, her commander quickly began.

"The CIA has concluded that the terrorist group responsible for the assassination were funded and supported by Iran. It seems as if the United States will in fact retaliate against Iran militarily. So far they have received pledges of military support from NATO and other key allies. The US has also demanded the creation of a new and separate branch of GJ that is more of a military counter-terrorist organization or they would withdraw all funds. Since I have my hands tied I want Agent Will Du to lead the newly created GSF, Global Security Force. I also want Agent Anderson to lead all major ground operations performed by GSF. Agents Possible, Pierce, Smith, Herring, and Butler will initially lead battle groups consisting of at least twenty men each. The basic command structure has already been conceived and agents have been handpicked. We have already been given the primary assignment of finding the mysterious assassin that killed the president. Training will begin for the group leaders and their troops almost immediately after this briefing is over. Agent Du will be meeting with top leaders to make sure funding is secure and also lay out the plan to find the assassin. Any questions?"

Kim quickly spoke up in order to help clear the cloud of questions forming in her head. "So this new unit will take part in the offensive?

Betty, being her regular self, had no hint of any emotion whatsoever as she answered her agent's question. "That is correct Agent Possible."

"So we are to take men and women into front line battle? I don't think we are exactly prepared for that. We have usually been in small numbers for quick covert ops." Pierce stated.

"The agents you will receive are handpicked like I said, and they will have several weeks of hard training starting tomorrow to help transition the agents."

"What type of missions will we be undertaking?" asked Agent Smith.

"Your missions will be quick strikes for critical information or specific targets. You will be in and out, so do not worry about any prolonged fighting. That is enough questions for now, you all know your duties so I would prepare for them. Also all of you except Agent Du will need to head over to the new GSF armory tent to get your uniforms and weapons. Good luck." The commander turned and walked out swiftly leaving Kim to take in the vast amount of information she had received in just one day.

After a short jog to the armory tent and a quick change into her new GSF uniform she looked in a mirror to only be greeted by a very unfamiliar figure.

The entire uniform was a combination of a black ops black background with streaks of a dark navy blue throughout. The uniform was tighter fitting than most military issue allowing more mobility and made the uniform look and feel less bulky. Her chest was covered by Kevlar armor and ammunition holders, while her hands were covered by dark navy blue combat gloves. She wore black combat boots and had hard black patches of armor on her shoulders, knees, and sides. Kim's helmet was essentially a standard issue US Army but was of course the same color combination as the rest of her uniform.

Kim was equipped with two combat knives, two fragmentation grenades, and a Beretta M9A1 handgun. She was also carrying her primary weapon, a dark navy blue and black colored FN SCAR assault rifle.

As she finished looking at the image staring back at her from the mirror, all she could think was, _am I ready?_

**KP**

A very tall and well built man was walking through the dimly lit halls that he had become so very accustomed to. It was obvious from what he was wearing that he was a soldier, probably some type of Special Forces. The man stood well over six feet tall and looked like he could easily punch a door down instead of kicking it. His dark colored uniform allowed him to blend in with the darkness creeping around the hallway.

The soldier reached a large set of black double doors that was guarded by two men who looked much like him. Both guards were hidden among the shadows even as they opened the door for their fellow comrade.

As the soldier stepped into the slightly lighter room his uniform stood out from the light. He was covered in a somewhat tight fitting special ops uniform that seemed to allow a great amount of mobility and flexibility. Every part of his body seemed to be covered by a black under armor mesh that even covered his neck.

Over the mesh was a tough but flexible fabric that made up his pants and long sleeve shirt. These were colored all black with very dark green streaks here and there. His chest was covered by a very tough all black armor that was also partially on his back, shoulders, knees, thighs, and forearms. He wore tight black gloves and all black combat boots. His helmet seemed like the average US Army issued combat helmet, except it was a dark green and black with a visor coming down from the helmet. The visor dropped over the man's face all the way down to the bottom of his chin. The visor also extended around the man's head back to about his ears where the regular helmet continued around to the back of the head. It was a very dark black that reflected light, allowing his face and eyes to remain perfectly hidden.

The soldier was armed with a Five-seveN pistol holstered low on his right thigh for tactical draw, a P90 submachine gun slung to his left, and two machete-length blades sheathed in an X on his back.

The man crossed the fairly large room until reaching a set of dark green double doors with four guards at attention. Unchallenged, two reached over to open the portal for him. Once through, and doors closed, he strode several more paces into the dimly lit room before kneeling to the ground with bowed head.

Seconds later a dark but soft voice pierced through the shadows of the fairly large room. "You may rise. What is so important that would cause you to disturb my meditation?"

The soldier rose to his feet as he replied, "You said you had wished to be informed about any developments."

"Yes. I am aware of this, and I would still like to know your reason for interrupting me."

The voice of his commander had a strange effect that caused his hair to stand up from what he could only assume was fear. Slightly unnerved he replied, "The United States along with its allies should invade Iran within weeks. Also GJ has created a new counter terrorist division called GSF."

"I could care less about what those puny GJ bugs are doing," the eerie voice replied with sharp hatred and malevolence. "If the US is going to invade soon, we need to go there in order to secure the money transaction. Pick four of my troopers to accompany yourself and me to our Iranian compound."

"Yes, sir" replied the soldier in a gruff voice but he continued to stand there.

"Is there something else you would wish to share or have you suddenly found yourself to be paralyzed?"

The trooper replied with a hint of uneasiness. "An enemy scout was found near the compound minutes ago. He was easily dispatched, but I thought you would want to know." With his last words spoken he strode out of the room to complete his orders.

After the soldier left the faceless voice whispered a few words in a deep, malicious voice. "Well, well, well. It seems as if a certain someone doesn't like what I have been up to lately. But don't worry old friend we will meet again, but sadly for you it will be the last time."

**KP**

One word could be used to describe the training at which Kim had endured for the last several weeks, insane. She thought she was in excellent shape but just after the first day she wanted to pass out and not get back up again for days. Although it was a very rough training, she had become acquainted with her comrades. One in particular was an attractive male by the name of David Schmidt. He was rather tale, about six feet, and was built like a professional athlete. He also had dirty blonde hair that seemed to correspond to his Native American appearance.

They had grown to be good friends, which getting yelled at and shot at with blanks by instructors tends to do, over their training days. She never once thought of being attracted to him and neither did he. They had just grown to be friends at a time when both seemed to be lacking in that area.

At this particular moment they were crawling under barbed wire while live rounds were being shot over their heads in order to mimic real combat. David just looked over at Kim and said in his usual good spirited and deep voice, "Is it just me or are you getting that weird feeling that they might actually be trying to kill us?"

Kim looked over at him with a frustrated look as the bullets whizzed by her head, but it took everything she had to not laugh as she saw his charming but somewhat goofy smile. "Stay focused David! I don't want to lose my only friend around here while we are still in training!"

He expressed a clearly faked hurt look while replying, "Oh come on, you now I'm right! Heck just last week they made us swim for eight hours straight! I mean when are we going to swim? Last I heard Iran was nothing but one big desert."

Kim just kept crawling before she could lose her concentration. She always wanted to concentrate in battle, but her good natured friend was making it very hard.

Kim had found herself in a weird and confusing set of circumstances lately. The President of the United States had been assassinated by an unknown person, she was being thrust into a combat position, and she had to lead men to their possible deaths. The worry she carried that she would screw up and lead to her comrade's deaths had threatened to overwhelm her, if it were not for David. His sincere friendship was a refreshing change of pace from what she had received before leaving Middleton, but that was a long story that she would not allow herself to think of it.

However, she knew no matter what she would stay loyal to the GSF and her comrades who would soon be fighting beside her. She had already made peace with the fact she might die trying to save someone else. When Kim thought about it, it seemed like the lesser of two evils. Who would want to live for the rest of their lives knowing a comrade died when they themselves should have?

After Kim and the other troops had washed up from the day's intense training an announcement was made that the entire GSF force would meet in the briefing room in twenty minutes. Needless to say the entire camp was thrown into an uproar as soldiers ran this way and that in order to get there on time.

When Kim finally made it into the large briefing room she skimmed over the large body of soldiers that numbered over one hundred by now. After a few seconds she saw David signaling to her from a seat in about the middle of the auditorium like room. She smiled at him fondly and ran over to take a seat beside him. Just as she sat down Betty Director walked into the room with about ten other commanders. As she walked in every soldier in the room stood straight at attention until the Commander motioned for them to sit.

"The United States along with its NATO allies will invade the country of Iran within days. The Iranian Navy will be insignificant to the invasion forces, but the land campaign will be brutal. The US is going to use a swift action strike from three directions in order to catch the Iranians off guard. This will work in our advantage because we have located what we think is a safe house of the assassin that we are after. At this time I will hand this briefing over to the commander of GSF forces, Commander Du."

Will Du walks up to the podium and clears his throat before starting his speech in his normal monotone voice. "We have located where the money transaction will take place between Iran and the assassin. It is a compound guarded by Iranian Revolutionary Guard* troops and any bodyguards the assassin has with them. We will be coordinating our strike with a German elite counter-terrorism group. They will offer sniper cover as you land inside the compound. You will move to capture each building as they enter the compound to assist. The assassin would be brought in alive preferably. All of you will be transported to Iran by a transport plane then you will travel by Black Hawks that will be escorted by Apache attack helicopters. The plane is leaving in an hour so good luck and God's speed."

**KP**

Kim was having a hard time with her thoughts, but most were not of what was about to happen. Instead most of her thoughts centered around the crazy circumstances that led her here. Her unit was still on board the transport plane, but she just could not concentrate on the present. Her mind began to drift to the beginning of it all.

**Flashback**

"Shhhh! Ron the whole point of sneaking inside something is not getting caught," said a redheaded teen hero as she crawled through a ventilation system.

"Sorry KP," replied her boyfriend and long time partner, Ron Stoppable.

After the slight pause the duo continued on through the maze of twists and turns until Kim heard familiar voices. She slowly crept to the nearest vent and looked through it in order to assess the situation.

The slender teen looked down upon a large room that had a laboratory area on one side and giant monitors on the other. The entire room was made from concrete giving it the feeling of a bomb shelter rather than a typical living area. As Kim continued to scan the area, she noticed a familiar figure talking and waving his arms around like a madman.

"Shheeegggggoooooo, why aren't you listening to me?" asked a blue skinned scientist who was standing next to what could only be assumed to be some death ray thing.

"Do we always have to go through this same thing time and time again? I mean can't you do something different for a change. I swear you are the dumbest evil scientist I've ever met," came the reply from an area of the room that Kim could not see but she recognized the voice nevertheless.

"You don't have to be so hurtful Shego."

"Well if it makes you feel any better Dr. D, it is hard to hear you over the racket those maintenance men you hired are making. Why are they even here anyway?"

The scientist looked down out as his feet without saying anything. There was a period of awkward silence accompanied only by the sound of magazine pages being turned.

"You blew it up when I was out didn't you?"

"My calculations were off slightly which caused it to misfire, but such set backs will not happen in the future!" Dr. Drakken said with zeal as he was about to go off on another one of his rants before he was suddenly interrupted by a crashing sound followed by a ripping sound.

"Ahhh man! How does this still happen?" came Ron's voice as he was hanging upside down from the vent by his ripped pants.

"Well well well. You sure know how to make an entrance Pumpkin. To bad the buffoon always messes it up," taunted the sidekick who was still sitting and enjoying her magazine.

"It doesn't matter either way because I am just going to beat you again like I always do," she retorted.

The villainess put her magazine down and slowly stood up to face her nemesis. Kim could not help but look at the very well toned body that was so evident through the incredibly tight green and black jumpsuit Shego always wore.

"Well Princess, this might actually be interesting," Shego said as she lit up her hands and lunged for Kim. What followed was closer to a strictly choreographed dance rather than a deadly fight between two hated enemies. Each strike was countered only to be followed by another. As each second passed both combatants grew more and more determined. The punches, sweeps, and kicks became faster and faster until the two looked as though they were one flowing energy with the two extremes seeming to melt together into a perfect harmony of movement and motion. The outside world ceased to exist as the two forces continued their dance of souls across the concrete complex. It continued for what seemed like an eternity until the inevitable happened and someone connected.

Shego slammed into the concrete wall leaving a gaping hole as she slowly picked herself up.

"I must say you offer a good challenge but that's about it," she said as she started to circled Kim in wait of an opening.

Kim was about to retort until she noticed the workers cowering behind various objects. "Shego don't you think we should continue this somewhere else? Someone could get hurt."

"Isn't that the point Princess?" Shego asked with a predatory grin before lunging at her again.

Kim dodged and the fight continued with renewed vigor. Everything was going right until a brave worker decided to try and help her by attempting to come up behind Shego. Kim jumped towards Shego and did a back flip in order to connect with her face. Shego quickly ducked but the worker was right behind her. Kim's powerful kick connected with his chin knocking his head back hard. A loud *crack* echoed throughout the room. Everyone stood in utter shock as his body fell limply to the floor. A silence that could kill floated in the room as other workers slowly came out to look at their fallen friend.

Shego and Kim both stood frozen in time it seemed as they stared at the body of the innocent worker. After several minutes the shock passed slightly and Kim collapsed to her knees. She leaned over the lifeless body and began to mutter in between her cries.

"Get up please… I…I didn't mean for this to happen… get up… you have to be okay," she practically moaned as she laid on top of him, "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… you can't be de… no! No! You aren't dead! Get up! You have to get up!" Kim began to shake him as tears flooded over her eyes and down her face. The sight was enough to snap Shego back into reality causing her to lean down and place a soft hand on Kim's shoulder. She could not tell whether Kim even felt it or not but she stopped shaking him and instead laid on top of him as her cries grew louder. Shego leaned down to try and say something to Kim but she turned and grabbed onto Shego as she continued to cry her heart out. She initially stiffened up but several moments later she returned the embrace while whispering sweetly, "Shhhh Princess… it'll be okay."

The sound of police sirens eventually began to penetrate Kim's pitiful moans. Even as the SWAT teams stormed the room Shego continued to stay beside her and hold her.

**End Flashback**

Kim was pulled from her thoughts as Captain Anderson got up to speak to the unit.

"I realize that most of you here have never been in combat, or have even served on the front lines," the Captain said in a deep voice.

The Captain stopped for a moment and looked around before continuing, "I also realize that most of you have never killed a man before. Well I want to tell you that no one here wants to or will enjoy killing another human being, but you will be forced to make a decision today. You can protect those sitting beside you or let them die in vain. When we are in combat it is to the men and women sitting beside you that you must place your trust and your life to. If any of you will hesitate to kill an enemy that is about to kill a comrade, I will not hesitate to kill you myself."

Half of the unit suddenly looked up in shock at his last few words, Kim included. The Captain just continued, "Anyone who would let their comrade die like that doesn't deserve to live. I myself know how hard it is dealing with the fact that you killed someone, but I can assure you that it will be ten times worse if you let a fellow soldier die. I am proud to fight beside you strong and honorable men and women. I will not hesitate to jump in front of a bullet for any one of you, and I can expect no less from you. We will be going into battle and many of you will not go home alive, but I can tell you right here and now that we will fight like brothers and will live or die together! No one will be left on the battlefield! And no matter what we will all come home together as proud warriors!"

No one seemed to notice that the plane has landed and had almost come to a complete stop, except the Captain that is.

"Now let's go and kick some Iranian ass!" yelled the captain right as the ramp dropped, allowing all the soldiers to run out of the plane and into the awaiting helicopters.

Kim did not know about all the other troopers, but all doubts in her mind ceased to exist after the Captain's speech.

**KP**

"Sir, snipers have deployed around our perimeter and GSF troops are inbound as we speak!" shouted the soldier to his commander.

"They have come just as expected. Has the money been transferred?" asked the cloaked figure in what seemed like a soft, thoughtful voice.

"Yes sir, twenty million dollars were transferred moments ago."

"Well then we are no longer needed here," the cloaked figure stated before making to walk out of the room.

"But what about the GSF forces sir?"

The cloaked figure turned, emerald eyes piercing through the shadow of the hood. "They mean absolutely nothing to us; this is between them and the Iranians. Oh, but before we leave make sure you 'accidentally' leave behind those fake transaction papers."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier saluted before tossing a stack of papers on the table and then following his commander out of the complex.

**KP**

Kim found herself in the lead helicopter which also had the Captain in it also. The Captain turned to the troops in the helicopter and started to explain what was happening.

"Now listen up! Snipers will have the area under fire, keeping the enemy buttoned down long enough for us to land inside the complex. Apaches will provide additional support. I'll remind you our squad is designated 'Spearhead', so ignore any chatter in your ears which is not that or any of our specific call signs. Got that Ladies? Remember, this is for the President!"

Some of the troops made quick prayers, but Kim was too busy thinking of her family and old friends to concentrate enough to even think to pray.

Within moments they could see the compound just as their escort helicopters opened up on the complex with rockets and cannons. The compound was a small village of tan colored buildings surrounded by a tall concrete wall on all sides. The devastation caused by just the one strafing run was clearly visible, leaving Kim to wonder how anyone could even survive that.

It quickly became obvious that many had in fact survived as small arms fire immediately became directed at the transport helicopters. Kim's adrenaline was now spiked thanks to the constant sounds of bullets rippling off the helicopter's armor. The chopper began to shake as the sounds of rockets whizzing by the helicopter conquered all other noises, which now included Kim's own heavy and erratic breathing.

Suddenly the chopper lurched extremely violently up into the air from an apparent impact. Kim managed to look to the back of the chopper to see that the entire tail was gone.

The Captain screamed over the chaos inside the helicopter, "We've been hit! We are going in hard! HANG ON!

Kim held onto the helicopter for dear life up until that very last second when the ground rushed up to greet the helicopter that was falling like a giant rock. Kim prayed with everything she had right up until the sudden impact…

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><p>*Iranian Revolutionary Guard: elite paramilitary force in Iran that is basically an entire self sufficient army and navy.<p>

Hope you enjoyed, coming up next: the battle and its aftermath.


	3. Chapter 3 First Blood

A/N: Its been awhile coming I know, but you know how it is...anyway I have gone back and edited chapter one and chapter two, the latter rather extensively (grammar and what not mostly).

**Important: For those of you that read my chapter 2 before I edited it I have included the flashback that I included in my edit. I do have to describe how in the heck we got here, don't I?**

With that said, enjoy!

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><p><strong>Flashback, 4 years ago<br>**

"Shhhh! Ron the whole point of sneaking inside something is not getting caught," said a redheaded teen hero as she crawled through a ventilation system.

"Sorry KP," replied her boyfriend and long time partner, Ron Stoppable.

After the slight pause the duo continued on through the maze of twists and turns until Kim heard familiar voices. She slowly crept to the nearest vent and looked through it in order to assess the situation.

The slender teen looked down upon a large room that had a laboratory area on one side and giant monitors on the other. The entire room was made from concrete giving it the feeling of a bomb shelter rather than a typical living area. As Kim continued to scan the area, she noticed a familiar figure talking and waving his arms around like a madman.

"Shheeegggggoooooo, why aren't you listening to me?" asked a blue skinned scientist who was standing next to what could only be assumed to be some death ray thing.

"Do we always have to go through this same thing time and time again? I mean can't you do something different for a change. I swear you are the dumbest evil scientist I've ever met," came the reply from an area of the room that Kim could not see but she recognized the voice nevertheless.

"You don't have to be so hurtful Shego."

"Well if it makes you feel any better Dr. D, it is hard to hear you over the racket those maintenance men you hired are making. Why are they even here anyway?"

The scientist looked down out as his feet without saying anything. There was a period of awkward silence accompanied only by the sound of magazine pages being turned.

"You blew it up when I was out didn't you?"

"My calculations were off slightly which caused it to misfire, but such set backs will not happen in the future!" Dr. Drakken said with zeal as he was about to go off on another one of his rants before he was suddenly interrupted by a crashing sound followed by a ripping sound.

"Ahhh man! How does this still happen?" came Ron's voice as he was hanging upside down from the vent by his ripped pants.

"Well well well. You sure know how to make an entrance Pumpkin. To bad the buffoon always messes it up," taunted the sidekick who was still sitting and enjoying her magazine.

"It doesn't matter either way because I am just going to beat you again like I always do," she retorted.

The villainess put her magazine down and slowly stood up to face her nemesis. Kim could not help but look at the very well toned body that was so evident through the incredibly tight green and black jumpsuit Shego always wore.

"Well Princess, this might actually be interesting," Shego said as she lit up her hands and lunged for Kim. What followed was closer to a strictly choreographed dance rather than a deadly fight between two hated enemies. Each strike was countered only to be followed by another. As each second passed both combatants grew more and more determined. The punches, sweeps, and kicks became faster and faster until the two looked as though they were one flowing energy with the two extremes seeming to melt together into a perfect harmony of movement and motion. The outside world ceased to exist as the two forces continued their dance of souls across the concrete complex. It continued for what seemed like an eternity until the inevitable happened and someone connected.

Shego slammed into the concrete wall leaving a gaping hole as she slowly picked herself up.

"I must say you offer a good challenge but that's about it," she said as she started to circled Kim in wait of an opening.

Kim was about to retort until she noticed the workers cowering behind various objects. "Shego don't you think we should continue this somewhere else? Someone could get hurt."

"Isn't that the point Princess?" Shego asked with a predatory grin before lunging at her again.

Kim dodged and the fight continued with renewed vigor. Everything was going right until a brave worker decided to try and help her by attempting to come up behind Shego. Kim jumped towards Shego and did a back flip in order to connect with her face. Shego quickly ducked but the worker was right behind her. Kim's powerful kick connected with his chin knocking his head back hard. A loud *crack* echoed throughout the room. Everyone stood in utter shock as his body fell limply to the floor. A silence that could kill floated in the room as other workers slowly came out to look at their fallen friend.

Shego and Kim both stood frozen in time it seemed as they stared at the body of the innocent worker. After several minutes the shock passed slightly and Kim collapsed to her knees. She leaned over the lifeless body and began to mutter in between her cries.

"Get up please… I…I didn't mean for this to happen… get up… you have to be okay," she practically moaned as she laid on top of him, "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… you can't be de… no! No! You aren't dead! Get up! You have to get up!" Kim began to shake him as tears flooded over her eyes and down her face. The sight was enough to snap Shego back into reality causing her to lean down and place a soft hand on Kim's shoulder. She could not tell whether Kim even felt it or not but she stopped shaking him and instead laid on top of him as her cries grew louder. Shego leaned down to try and say something to Kim but she turned and grabbed onto Shego as she continued to cry her heart out. She initially stiffened up but several moments later she returned the embrace while whispering sweetly, "Shhhh Princess… it'll be okay."

The sound of police sirens eventually began to penetrate Kim's pitiful moans. Even as the SWAT teams stormed the room Shego continued to stay beside her and hold her.

**End Flashback**

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><p><strong>Shades of Grey<strong>, Chapter 3: First Blood

With a sense of urgency, Kim forced her eyes open. _We're gonna crash! _

_Did crash._

She looked around the helicopter only to be met with a stillness which was only interrupted by the oddly fluid movement of a fire coming from the cockpit. After regaining most of her senses she was assaulted by the sounds of battle, from discharges of weapon-fire to the screams of the wounded. For several moments the new GSF soldier felt as though it was just some nightmare and she would wake up in her bed next to her beloved Pandaroo.

Such hopes were dashed by something in the cockpit going off. The new GSF soldier lacked the experience to identify it as the sound of ammunition set off by the heat of fire discharging in the pilot's sidearm. Which would have killed the man were he not already dead from impact as well as immolated beyond recognition. After a quick self-check revealed no serious injuries, she scanned about for the rest of her squad.

An unlucky trooper, who had been thrown from the helicopter just prior to the crash, sat with his back against a wall. The rest of him, from his right shoulder on down to his mid rib, lay on the ground thirty feet away amidst a burnt and scarred chunk of shredded metal. Blood gushed from the wounds and what was left of the lower portion of his body lay scattered around him with small pieces of guts clumped together a few inches away. The trooper's eyes were open, staring blankly up into the sky, and his mouth was also left open, allowing drops of blood to slowly drip down the sides of his mouth. Kim quickly looked away and tried to keep herself from vomiting.

Chaos reigned as soon as Kim dragged herself out of the burning hellhole. Several bodies of her fallen comrades lie strewn across the dirt that was now the temporary landing zone for the beleaguered GSF force. She looked over and saw Captain Anderson with about thirty other troopers holding a perimeter by a small stone wall several feet tall.

Her friend David, who was with the group of troopers defending the perimeter, looked over and saw her. He motioned to the Captain who turned and saw Kim crouching near the helicopter for cover. Anderson motioned to her to make a run for it as he barked to his men to provide cover fire. Seconds later the entire group began firing from all possible vantage points as Kim ran through the open strip of ground as fast as she possibly could while being weighted down from her heavy combat gear. When she was within several feet she dove behind the wall, nearly ramming it with her head.

Captain Anderson crawled over to her in order to update her on their situation, "Glad you finally made it Lieutenant, we've established a perimeter 'round the LZ and Pierce took a squad to shore up our right flank. Take five, do the same to the left. Hold until relieved."

"Yes sir," Kim quickly replied. She crawled along the wall while tapping five of the best men that she knew, including David, on the leg. The small group then slowly made their way over to the left flank.

Kim spotted a small ridge with several palm trees at the top of the slope and led her men over to the position. Once they arrived she slowly lifted her head over a small dune to survey the enemies' positions, only to be rewarded by suppressive fire blowing dirt in her face.

Hastily clearing her eyes, she motioned to her men, "Jack, Ruiz; by that downed tree. David, Baker; cover me."

The troopers did as they were ordered. Jackson and Ruiz sprinted to their position, but they never made it. Instead they were cut down mid stride by machine gun fire coming from an upper window of a building. Kim was horrified as she watched the two soldiers being riddled with bullets as mists of blood shot from their backs. Both bodies eventually slumped down to the ground in awkward positions, with Jackson's head facing towards Kim. His eyes had remained open, staring into her, with a look of unspeakable pain and agony.

Kim could not look away from the eyes of the man who died following _her_ orders. He had died because of _her_.

_She_ had killed him.

Her guts wrenched and she felt the need to vomit. She tried to look away, but his eyes held her prisoner. Her very soul cracked and shriveled up from the dead gaze.

She could not take it anymore.

Suddenly, she stood up and ran toward her fallen comrades, deep down hoping there was still some way to save him. She just ran. She ran through a hail of bullets that she did not even notice. Even as a grenade went off near her, she did not hear it. When she landed several feet away, the battlefield seemed to fade into nothing as she slumped down into the sand, still looking into his eyes.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback- 4 years ago<strong>_

She had cried for so many countless hours that her body seemed incapable of producing tears anymore. So now she was reduced to sitting on her bed, with her knees to her chest, whimpering. Even after so many meaningless days had passed, her hell only seemed to get worse.

Everyone Kim knew either rushed to her to assure her it would all be okay or they would just look at her differently, like a murderer. Kim respected the latter more; at least they were not lying to her face. Something had changed inside of her and things could never go back to being normal.

However, Ron was always there for her. He did everything he could to try and help her get out of her rut. He did everything to help, from cooking her favorite foods, with help from Mrs. Possible, to holding the tissue box. It got to the point that Kim started to feel guilty partially because she knew he deserved better than watch her be such an emotional wreck, but mostly because whatever he did only made her hate her feelings more. Although everything he did was great, it was exactly what a friend would do. There was not touching or caressing. She refused to think about it too much; instead she decided to just be thankful for having such a great person in her life. Her thoughts were already plagued by so many other things anyway.

There was even talk of prosecution by eager attorneys, but the worst of it all was when she met the worker's family.

The family of the deceased had requested Kim to attend the funeral; they wanted to talk to her. She was hesitant at first because she was still an emotional wreck, but she went anyway.

As she sat in the choking heat for hours she could only look at the new widow trying to comfort her newborn baby in her arms. While Kim looked at the scene, her eyes wandered to the woman behind it all. As she looked into the poor widow's eyes, she could feel the unspeakable pain and agony that coursed through the frail woman's body. She knew the man she had loved was dead and that it was her fault.

It was just too much for her.

So she just ran.

**End Flashback**

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><p>"Medic! We need a medic over here!" David waved frantically to the arriving GSF reinforcements. He had been able to drag Kim behind a ridge after someone called for air support, taking out the machine gun bunker in the process.<p>

"What happened?" the nearest medic asked as he began to look over his patient.

"A grenade went off close to her. She went airborne."

The medic calmly inspected her wounds, and bandaged the places where pieces of frag had penetrated. "She is lucky. There is frag in her leg and shoulder. Maybe a minor concussion. Get her to the next medivac, I can't tell how deep the frag went."

"Okay, thanks." He quickly picked her up and carried her to the landing zone. He arrived just as a helicopter was about leave with the wounded. After signaling for it to stop, he placed her gently on the helicopter.

Whispering to her he said, "If you can hear me you better pull through or I'm outta the only friend I got around here." David then looked up to the medic in the helicopter, "You better take good care of her."

The man kindly replied with a half-hearted smile, "Don't worry, she is safer here with me than out there."

When the helicopter had nearly left the battlefield, Kim came to. Through her blurred senses she could make out the smoke rising from the buildings, the bodies littering the streets, and the unrelenting sound of gunfire. Before she fell back under she could not help but think, _so that's what hell is like._

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><p>"What the <em>hell<em> were you thinking?" Commander Director exclaimed in absolute fury.

"I don't know." Kim answered, as she stared ahead and tried valiantly to maintain her composure.

"I sure as hell don't either! Not only did you put yourself at risk, you put the lives of your comrades on the line too! You are an officer! That is not what an officer does!"

"I know." Kim said weakly.

When Betty Director looked into her eyes she saw how much pain she was in. Relaxing slightly she replied, "Look I understand what it feels like to lose your first man. No one should have to experience that. But there are people out there who need you! You cannot lose your head like that again. Do you hear me?"

"Yes Commander."

"Good. Now report to debriefing with Commander Du."

"Yes Commander."

The commander quickly added, "And if you need to talk to anyone, I know someone who will help. It wouldn't be his first time."

"Thank you Commander."

After saluting Kim walked briskly out of the Commander's tent and out into the rest of GSF's temporary base of operations located just a few miles out of Bandar, Iran. As she walked she was plagued with thoughts about yesterday's battle, but forced them out of her head knowing how harmful they were. She would deal with them later. Before she could reach the desired tent, her friend ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Hey, there's my favorite redhead! How ya feelin'?"

"David, I'm the only redhead here."

"Nah. That can't be right. I coulda sworn I saw a guy ov..."

"Look, I know you're just trying to help but I just want to go to the debriefing, leave, then get to my cot and pass out. Okay?"

"Sure thing, I'm sure you want to get some sleep." He started to walk away but turned around after a few steps to add, "Oh and if you ever want to talk, I ain't got anything better to do."

Kim stood there for a few moments, but then quickly turned and entered the tent.

"Ah, nice of you to join us Lieutenant. Now we can begin." Commander Du turned to a map of Iran behind him as Kim took her seat among the other officers. "The mission was a partial success." The Commander looked at Kim, she did not know if it was intentional or not but she still glared at him anyway.

"Although the assassin and their henchmen were not found at the site, several prisoners have said that they were there several minutes prior. Also, several important documents were found hinting at where the assassin is receiving their funding. It is not concrete and it will need to be looked at and verified before any steps are taken. Now as to the war, the advance is moving steadily but the enemy is falling back deep into the mountains. There is a key training camp here, just south of the city of Yazd. It is critical that we disable it. The specifics will be discussed tomorrow. You will assault the base in four days' time. You are dismissed."

Kim followed the rest of the officers out of the tent. Once the group had dissipated she stopped and looked up into the sky. It was night and the stars were shining unobstructed by clouds. She gazed up at the beautiful sky and let out a deep, emotionally heavy sigh._ So much has happened_, she thought.

Her mind weighed heavy with such thoughts. _For once in my life I don't know if I can do this. I've spent my entire life fighting, but this is too much._

_But I have too. _She argued with herself, starting an internal conflict.

_Why? So you can watch more men and women die for just one man._

_But he was th__e President of __the United States!_

_So? What makes him different than any other person? Just because he has a fancy job title __means he is more important than the tourists killed in Setra or the journalist in Emeretstan? When it comes down to it why do you really fight? Why do you risk your life?_

_For my..._

_Sorry what was that? I couldn't quite hear you._

_For my friends! For all the good, decent people I know here who have lives back at their home! Because I have nothing back home! Except memories..._

With that her mind ceased to fight with her, and she kept gazing at the stars enjoying the peace while it lasted.

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><p>There it is, hope you enjoyed and please review!<p>

Also, I would like to thank my wonderful beta LoveRobin for all the help she has given me, and MezzicStorm for helping me work out some kinks in the rough draft.


	4. Chapter 4 The Battle of Red Cliffs

**A/N**: Here is chapter four and the last heavy combat chapter for a while. After this there will be more regular dialogue, faster plot development, and the Kim/Shego interaction I started this thing for. Also, although some countries are named in this chapter and those prior, just because they look like bad guys does not mean they are. This is a work of fiction, and I am not pushing political views and opinions of certain counties on anyone.

I actually do not own Kim Possible. Disney does.

**Shades of Grey**, Chapter 4: The Battle of Red Cliffs

**8 Klicks Southeast of Iranian training camp. 0900 hours.**

A thunderous roar shook the ground of the desert floor as over a dozen armored vehicles raced across the sand at high speeds. Their powerful engines pushing the 68 ton behemoths as hard as they could go. Outside the visibility was down to zero due to a blinding sandstorm that seemed to consume everything in its path.

"Switch to thermal" shouted the tank commander over the radio.

The crews did as ordered, however, the sights still showed nothing. Still, the tank crews stayed vigilant. The tanks had been ordered to take part in a GSF assault on an Iranian training camp by offering support once they had infiltrated the base. The sandstorm was making the trip to the village difficult. If it was not for the GPS systems in the tanks, they would be lost in the unending dust bowl. For the tank crews, they wanted the perpetual desert to end and to engage their enemy soon.

Faintly, hot spots began to light up the thermal imaging on the tanks. The dots turned into shapes of several enemy tanks positioned around several small buildings. As the tanks moved closer small arms fire erupted from the enemy positions around the village. The hail of bullets was quickly followed by several RPG's impacting the tank's heavy frontal armor head on. The tanks, however, seemed unfazed as the explosions were only chipping the pant and leaving small dents. Under the hail of bullets and rockets, the tanks continued to race across the barren landscape directly into the incoming fire.

The tank leader ordered the tanks to pull up on a line positioned towards the enemy. With speed and precision the tanks maneuvered into position through the blinding sandstorm while under fire.

"Village. Direct Front. Frontal. One round heat. At my command. Ready report." The commander ordered over the radio.

Immediately following the order, the lead tank's main gun erupted with a loud deafening boom, launching a round into one of the buildings. The hit pulverized the building's weak concrete walls leaving nothing behind but rubble and the mangled bodies of those who once occupied it. The other tanks used the shot to mark center.

"Green, ready"

"White, ready"

"Fire," came the order.

Simultaneously tank rounds impacted the rest of the small base, decimating everything in sight. After several moments the tanks began to move again, quickly leaving the burning remnants of the base smoking behind them as they raced to reach their allies who were assaulting a nearby enemy compound.

**2 Klicks West of objective Iranian training camp. 0905 hours.**

"Bulldog Base, this is Bulldog Six. Approximately two klicks south of LZ."

"Good copy Bulldog. Friendly armor hit a forward outpost, ETA ten minutes. Be advised primary LZ compromised, regroup with Warrior 6 at IG465156."

"Good copy base. Proceeding to secondary LZ at IG465156."

Second Lieutenant Kim Possible sat inside one of the Blackhawk helicopters making their way to the secondary landing zone. She was rechecking her weapon for the fourth time while looking out at the endless expanse of desert racing by. She felt afraid, but now she also felt prepared for what lay ahead. The events of her last battle continued to replay continuously in her head. The noise, the smell, the fear all seemed to echo within her. She never doubted that the carnage she witnessed at that battle would ever disappear from her now haunted memory.

"Bulldog Six, this is Bulldog Base. Warrior Six has secured the LZ. You are clear."

"Good copy Bulldog Base."

Kim looked over to the First Sergeant, "So how long have you been with GJ?"

"Long enough," came his gruff reply.

_So much for getting to know each other_,she thought. "I know you have more experience than me so I'm not going to be one of those know it all officers."

"Lt. right now you're just a butter bar. Don't fuck up and then it might change."

"I understand." _They aren't going to make this easy_.

The helicopters finally reached the landing zone and touched down inside the small desolate town. The Iranian Army had pushed most of the inhabitants out to create a training compound. However, they kept several civilians as shields so the NATO Coalition forces could not bomb the village back into the dust from where it came.

Once the helicopter touched down, the soldiers ran out of the helicopter forming a perimeter around their temporary landing zone. Kim ran over to the captain with warrior platoon.

"American tanks are coming from the south. The enemy has mostly split up; half confronting the tanks and the other half falling back to the central plaza HQ. Take your men and secure the southern side of the compound. I need you as a screening force for any reinforcements on our backs. Once the armor arrives, my men will assault the center plaza."

"Yes, sir." Kim replied. Turning her attention to her sergeant, "Take first and second squads and I'll take the rest. We'll move separate but close enough for support."

"Yes sir but I would recommend putting Specialists Ghost and Ridley in that central tower for sniper support," the sergeant said pointing to a tall tower to the southeast.

"Okay. Ghost, Ridley you heard him. Third and fourth squads with me. Johnson you're on point."

The soldiers did as ordered and moved through the vacant streets.

**Central Tower, PFC Ridley. 0908 hours.**

"In position. Eyes on two hostiles on nearby rooftop." Ridley spoke into the radio. He and Ghost had made their way to the top of the tower which gave them a view over the entire town. While Ghost started to set up his silenced M40A5 sniper rifle, Ridley surveyed the area using his spotting scope.

"Take them out." Kim replied.

Looking through his spotting scope, he watched as Ghost's first shot ripped through the enemy's head leaving the headless body to limply fall to the ground. The second shot followed almost immediately and tore through the other man's chest.

"Good kill." Ridley went back to surveying the area for enemies, it didn't take long to spot movement. "Patrol headed your way Sarg. Six hostiles headed north."

"Good copy. Engage on our mark."

Through the scope he saw the sergeant and his men set up in the first level of a building. Once the patrol had nearly passed, the soldiers opened fire and pinned the lone enemy survivor behind a truck.

"Hostile, far left." Ridley spoke to Ghost.

A faint high pitch sound quickly followed with a round impacting the hood of the truck in front of the enemy soldier.

"Miss. Adjust two inches up."

Ghost adjusted and the next shot impacted the soldier in the left eye and left a gaping hole in its wake.

"Area clear." Ridley announced but quickly rescinded it. "Convoy approaching from the south. Two tanks, four APCs, and nearly a dozen trucks."

**Southern edge of Iranian town, 2LT Possible. 0910 hours.**

"Do not engage yet," Kim spoke into the radio. "Ghost shoot out their tires once they reach our position."

Although Kim did not like the idea of fighting against such a well-equipped force, her orders were clear.

She directed the soldiers to take cover inside the first floors of the nearest buildings. As soon as she had ducked inside the nearest building and closed the door, the rumbling of tanks began to be heard. Kim sat down next to the wall and held her gun tightly. She could not help but think of all the things that could happen. The thought of losing her men caused her stomach to tighten.

Time seemed to painfully slow down as the rumbling of the convoy continued to approach at an excruciatingly slow pace. The continuous movement was suddenly interrupted by the ominous sound of brakes. Kim tensed up and looked over to the other soldiers in the room. They were all ready to open fire the second she ordered it.

"The first truck has been immobilized." Ridley's voice crackled over the radio, "Soldiers from the first three trucks are getting out."

"Do they know what happened?" Kim desperately asked.

"No, it seems like they're just attempting to change the damn tire. Yeah it seems they think it was just a flat."

"Wait two hostiles are walking in your direction!" Ridley spoke into the radio sending a chill through Kim's spine.

His words caused Kim's world to fall into slow motion and make each beat of her heart seemingly echo throughout the room with such intensity that she was afraid the enemy would hear it.

The sound of the Iranian soldiers talking became louder and the sound of footsteps coming ever closer dominated over all other sounds. Kim clinched her weapon tightly to her chest as the soldiers were just feet away. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would bust out of her chest.

"Open fire!" Kim yelled to her troops.

Kim moved immediately and kicked opened the door, raised her rifle, and fired two bursts at the two soldiers who were just feet away from her. For the second time in the last two minutes her world began to inch by in slow motion. Her eyes were unable to look away as she watched the two figures slowly crumple over onto the ground. Even as they laid on the ground unmoving, her eyes refused to look away. The realization of what she just did hit her immediately. The two motionless bodies stared back at her, mocking her. Her hands had blood on them and they would never be clean again.

Unable to continue to look at their bodies she ducked back behind the wall beside her. Enemy rounds almost immediately began to impact the stone walls she was hiding behind. The sounds of battle seeped into her ears as she looked across the room towards her comrades. They were all pinned down while trying to return fire through the broken windows in front of them.

Leaning around the corner of the wall and into the open doorway, she raised her rifle to return fire only to be met with incoming rounds. Turning away from the incoming hail of bullets her vision became filled with the dirtied face of her sergeant.

"Lieutenant! Enemy tanks are moving up and we are taking casualties!"

As if to emphasis his point, a massive hole was blown into the wall near them sending men flying through the air like ragdolls.

"No we have to hold! Friendly tanks should be here any second!"

"Lt! We won't last two seconds like this!"

Physically shaking her head in an attempt to regain her senses she remembered her men were counting on her. "I said hold the fucking position! Get the men with anti-tank weapons on the roofs! They can hit the tanks from above!" Kim ordered.

The sergeant scrambled to complete his orders as hell continued to rain down on the pinned down soldiers.

The desperate firefight continued for what, to Kim, felt like hours when in reality it was no longer than several minutes. The battle was clearly becoming one sided as Kim's men were being overrun. Most of the men were wounded, even Kim herself who had taken a round through the side of her thigh.

Looking down at her wound and clutching it in an attempt to slow the bleeding, she was about to order her men to fall back. The battle was lost. Though, before she could communicate the order to her troops a voice erupted from the radio.

"Bulldog six this is Pathfinder. We have hostiles in the city, where are you?" came the thick southern accent of the American tank commander over the radio.

"Pathfinder this is Bulldog six, we are pinned inside the buildings beside the convoy. Do not fire on the buildings."

The American tanks quickly rolled through the Iranians' rear, the battle obviously turning against the Iranians. Swiftly, the American tanks pushed aside what was left of the convoy leaving none of the enemy left alive.

"Pathfinder the rest of the forces are at the central plaza. Warrior six will meet you there." Kim spoke over the radio.

"Good copy, heading out."

Breathing a sigh of relief, the young lieutenant set about organizing her men and getting medical attention to those who needed it most. Once all of her men had been taken care of she allowed a medic to wrap up the still bleeding wound on her thigh. Without even a second to enjoy the lull, the radio crackled to life.

"Bulldog six this is Bulldog base, Lieutenant you are to return to base for debriefing immediately."

Taken aback Kim replied, "I won't leave my men."

"Bulldog six will be pulled out also. You are to head back to base as soon as the medevac helicopters arrive."

Begrudgingly Kim did as ordered and boarded the medevac helicopters along with her badly wounded comrades.

_I wonder what it is now_, she thought expectantly.

**Somewhere in South America, 2 hours ago.**

The night provided the perfect background for the GJ special agent as he sneaked past the patrols of mercenaries. However, the patrols with dogs were still proving difficult to bypass. He had to stay downwind and cover himself in dirt in order to cover up his scent. After hours of slowly dodging the enemy he had finally made it past the last perimeter patrol and found himself next to an old, and apparently no longer abandoned, multi-story warehouse. Moving quickly, he took out a gun and aimed it at the top of the building. With barely a sound a black line flew out of the gun towards the top of the warehouse, with a faint click the top of the line secured itself to the wall of the building.

The agent began to climb the line to the roof until he heard the distinctive sound of footsteps approaching his location. Acting quickly he launched himself into the nearest window and pulled the extra line inside and out of sight of whoever was patrolling. With his adrenaline peaked, he surveyed the room he had entered in such a rush. It was almost completely empty with no sign of life occupying the room for years. The special agent raised up his silenced MP5 sub machine gun as he moved through the open area. Leaving his climbing gear behind, hidden underneath an overturned table, he moved to the only exit inside the room. As he neared the door he could hear someone talking on the other side. Leaning against the wall next to the door he intently listened to the conversation on the other side.

"I swear Ivan, we always get the boring jobs. Why in the hell do they just put the two of us in this little room the size of a closet?"

"Because Clyde, you idiot, if things go bad we have the best vantage point in this entire place, and I have been itching for someone to find their way between my cross hairs," came the reply with a thick Russian accent.

"Yeah alright, as long as it's not me."

After hearing the exchange the special agent outside the door used his foot to slowly push the door open eliciting a low, scratchy sound from the aged door's hinges. Cursing under his breath the agent moved away from the door and with his back firmly against wall.

"Hey Ivan what the hell was that?" Clyde said quickly.

"Just the door, probably the wind pushed it," came Ivan's slow, lazy reply.

"You sure? Don't you want to check it out?"

"Not when you can do it for me."

"Screw you," Clyde replied.

The sound of shuffling and footsteps followed several moments of silence. The door then slowly opened, drawing the same scratchy sound as earlier, followed by the tip of a rifle. The special agent hugged the wall for dear life and gripped his gun, preparing for anything.

Part of the dark room lit up when the enemy soldier turned on the flashlight attached to his weapon. The mercenary slowly passed through the doorway, barely entering the room, and looked at the far side of the room. Seeing nothing he slowly moved into the room looking from one corner of the room to the other. Once he was several feet into the room, the GJ agent crept up behind the soldier. Taking his combat knife out of its sheath, he lunged forward, reaching around the enemy and clamping his hand over his mouth. The hostile soldier could only grunt in response as the agent quickly brought his knife up to his throat and severed it. The soldier tried to scream out to his comrade but all that came out was spurts of blood.

Each second proceeded to pass with insufferable length as the agent continued to hold the dying soldier. Every sound seemed to echo across the entire room as the agent's heart continued to race.

He began to slowly lay the soldier on the ground as his last moments of life came to pass. Nearly finished his brutal task, the agent proceeded to take care of the dead man's friend.

With one of the two down, the agent moved quietly through the opened door with his gun raised. When he was about three quarters through the door he spotted his target sitting barely five feet from him in front of a window looking through the scope of his rifle. Afraid a shot could bring unwanted attention he stealthily crept up behind the Russian.

"Hey Clyde, find anything?" the mercenary asked his now dead friend not knowing of the danger silently lurking behind him.

Finally within reach, the agent reached out grabbing the man's head and jerking it to the side evoking a harsh snapping sound as the man's neck broke instantly. With both enemies killed the special agent dragged the bodies to the corner of the large room, and walked back into the small room to begin setting up his surveillance equipment.

An eerie feeling of impending trouble sent a slight shiver through the man's spine as he listened from his hidden vantage point. From his perch he could see the darken interior of the old warehouse as intermittent rays of moon light pierced the large broken windows. In the middle of the large building stood two dark figures talking while several armed men patrolled the perimeter.

The hidden onlooker took out a device and began to listen in.

"Why can't we complete the deal now?" asked one of the men before taking another puff of his cigar.

"My boss said he wishes to personally see to it," replied the second, dressed in a dark suit and holding a finger to his earpiece.

"I don't like it."

"You don't really have a choice. You will get your money when he gets here."

"Look I just don't hold onto something this hot out in the open."

"You think I care? My boss will be here soon, and I'm not going to let you leave until he arrives."

He motioned to his bodyguards beside him. "You think so? My men could kill you and dump you in the river without anyone ever knowing."

"I don't really appreciate you talking to my man like that. How would you like it if I threatened you?" came a low, muffled voice from a different direction. Everyone turned to see a very well dressed man, surrounded by over a dozen men similarly dressed, who looked like he should be attending a ball for the social elite instead of an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night. The only other mentionable feature of the newcomer was the elegant mask that adorned his face. The design was intricate, giving off the impression of a powerful, faceless entity. The entire mask was gray and did not seem to have any holes for the face or mouth. All of the men that had accompanied him were wearing very similar masks except theirs were not as detailed and were colored black instead of gray. The original suited man walked over to his boss, whispering something in his ear.

"I would spit in your face. I'm no coward. And who the hell are you? How did you get in here without my men knowing?" came the criminal's reply.

The boss gave a light chuckle, which was slightly muffled under his mask, and looked towards his men as if he had heard a funny joke. He turned back to the criminal, "I do apologize friend, but I don't have a name. You can call me whatever you wish, but since I am only here for the matter of business let's get straight to it, shall we?"

"Hmm you remind me of that guy from the opera. You know that disfigured guy who wore a mask?"

"Enough with the formalities. Where is it?"

"Over here." The chubby man motioned to a large shipping crate. The masked leader walked over to it and inspected the outside of the crate before he motioned to one of his men to open it up. He took out a crowbar and ripped the front off. He then walked in and inspected the contents before exiting and nodding back to his boss.

"Ah yes, everything is in order. Let's discuss the transaction then," he said, as he placed a suitcase on the ground, allowing the criminal to inspect its contents.

"There is nothing to discuss, the price just went up. I can read enough Russian. That kind of trouble deserves a better payment."

"I am sorry you feel that way, but well then again no I'm not," the boss sighed before motioning to his bodyguards. Two of the men quickly pulled out M9 Beretta pistols and shot the criminal's guards in the head. The rest opened fire on the remaining mercenaries in the room quickly eliminating any threats.

The mysterious masked man walked over to the criminal until he was inches away, "Now do you still wish to negotiate?"

"You think I am so easily intimidated?" the criminal spoke defiantly looking up towards the window where the GJ special agent now was.

"Very well." With a quick motion the masked man pulled out a knife and lunged at the criminal, pinning him to the ground. He pushed the blade deep into the man's shoulder causing the criminal to scream out in agony as blood started to seep from the deep wound.

"Ah shit!" the criminal screamed as he looked pleadingly up to the window where his men were supposed to be.

The masked face looked down at the man withering in pain and simply said, "Beg."

"Fuck you!" the criminal spat into his face.

He twisted the knife lodged in his shoulder causing his victim to wail. "Beg."

"You are insane!" cried the terrified man.

Clearly unhappy with the response he proceeded to motion to his men again. Two of his masked guards walked over to the bleeding criminal. One picked up his leg and holding it in place. The second masked man quickly proceeded to kick down hard onto the criminal's knee. The action shattered his knee completely, nearly making the criminal pass out from the pain. The masked boss, still holding the knife embedded into the criminal's shoulder, repeated his order, "I said beg!"

"Fuck! Okay okay, look I will give you everything I have! Just stop...please!" cried the injured man, if he were able to physical get on his knees before the masked man and kiss his feet he would do it to just get the pain to stop.

"Not good enough. I have all that already," the masked man said as he pulled out his Beretta putting it to the man's forehead before pulling the trigger. The resulting explosion of blood and brain matter left the masked killer's clothes completely ruined. However, he calmly pulled the knife out of the dead man's shoulder and stood to look at his men.

"Sack the place. Take anything of value, but make sure that the package is secure! I don't want any accidents," came the muffled voice from behind the emotionless mask. As he started to walk away he looked down at the dead bodies with disgust. He simply reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and began to wipe the brain matter off his suit.

As he looked down at the man one last time he shook his head saying "And clean up this mess," before striding out of the room followed by several of his masked bodyguards.

The special agent proceeded to disassemble his equipment as quickly as possible. Once he got all of his stuff together he made his way out of the exterior window in the adjacent room using his climbing equipment he had stowed away to quickly make his way down the building. The second he hit the ground he began to sprint away from the warehouse and away from the open ground he was now in. As he reached the woods several dozen yards away from the building he tripped and fell hard onto the ground. After recovering quickly he crawled over to where he tripped to see what it was. As he reached the lump on the ground he pushed it over to reveal the face of one of the mercenaries patrolling the area from earlier. Cursing, the special agent went to stand up only to be met with the sight of an ornately carved gray mask staring intently down at him.

Seconds later he saw the barrel of the masked man's Beretta pointed at him. The agent reacted quickly, lunging forward to try and catch his enemy off guard. The masked man however was unfazed as he quickly side stepped the lunge and raised his leg to meet the agent, brutally breaking the man's nose in the process. Landing hard on the ground, the agent attempted to get back up in order to face his opponent. A deafening popping sound and the accompanying pain in his right shoulder kept him from getting up.

The masked man then followed by shooting the agent in his other shoulder. He stood menacingly over the man's damaged body for several moments before rolling him over so they would be face to face.

"You know I was beginning to think GJ was getting lazy on me." The masked man crouched down beside the agent and placed one of his hands on his shoulder.

"Here I thought GJ had forgotten me, but it seems as acquiring something on the Russian black market always gets your attention," the man pushed his thumb deep into the agent's wound eliciting a painful yell. "And now that I have yours, would you like to hear my plan? So that your pathetic excuse for a secret spy agency can stop me?" After several moments of silence the masked man proceeded to dig deeper into the man's shoulder as he pinned him to the ground.

"So do you?"

Several seconds of silence floated around the two men only interrupted intermittently by gunshots. The agent could only assume the masked man's men were killing what was left of the mercenaries.

"Answer me!" The villain shouted, becoming deeply aggravated at the agent's silence.

"Y-Yes," came the weak reply.

"Like I would be so foolish," the masked villain spat as he stood up. He slowly pulled up his pistol, aiming it at the agent, and shot three times into his gut, pausing between each one to have more time to look down at the man. When he was finished, he continued to stand over the agent and watch him intently from behind his mask as he bled to death. Shaking his head, the mysterious man casually walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**:I am terribly sorry for this incredibly late update. I have been unable to contact my beta and this kind of took a back seat to life. Hopefully updates will be made faster after this. I have, surprisingly, had a lot of views on this story, but not that many favs, follows, and reviews. Your input is welcome and will help me in deciding if this is even worth continuing.

Also, what did you think about the tanks? I am trying to make this thing unique and I haven't seen anything like that before. The scene was actually based off of the Battle of 73 Easting.


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